You're Annoying
by lili7552
Summary: After Sasuke returns to Konoha, he is given a mission, a simple one ; guarding the client. However, considering the status and importance of the client, the mission was awarded a higher rank. Whilst travelling through the country, Sasuke gets caught up in three things he hates the most ; politics, irrelevant to him battles and possibly emotions once it's too late to drop the quest.
1. Chapter 1

He ripped out the needles out of his right forearm. They were poisoned needles. Normally blood would gush out, especially when the blood was diluted by the chemicals within the poison, but naturally the cuts were only small. Nonetheless he felt dizzy, and hot, his muscles burnt in irritating pain.

Sighing, in defeat, he jumped down from the crowns of the trees, and slowed down his pace. He wasn't in a hurry anyway. He didn't feel the desire to be back as soon as possible, or to see the faces of people he knew, and he didn't even want to see anyone. He no longer wanted, anything, whatsoever.

Perhaps anything, apart from the effects of the poison to go away. They were getting in the way.

The walls of that damned village, Konoha, were still standing. Not even a crack after all those years. The gates wide open, and someone in the exact middle of them.

''Where were you so long? Where's Kiba?''

If anything at all could make him feel even more annoyed, was the voice of an angry _female_ Hokage.

''On a mission.'' He stated, as he breathed out. Despite all, he seemed quite well. At most ; out of breath. He smiled lightly enough for the Hokage to either not see it, or forgive him and pretend to have never seen it.

''I sent him to watch over you.''

''I told him to get off my heels. I don't need a care-taker. I'm an S-rank Jounin.'' He stated, so simply, as if he just said something as obvious as 'It's raining.'

''That's the point.'' She crossed her arms. Clearly expecting nothing more, nothing less from him.

When Sasuke returned, Tsunade had no idea what to do with him. Making him go through all the Academy and exams would be useless, and perhaps dangerous for others during the Chuunin exam. So, dropping him back to genin rank would be a waste of time and very likely cost a few genin's lives in the Forest of Death.

She decided to test his trustworthiness and skill during missions. He'd start from simpler work, and get observed. Naturally, several ninjas who were sent to watch over him sooner or later gave in and 'observed him from a distance,' of usually no less than 20 cubits. At times like so, she missed Neji more than ever – his skill and usefulness. His byakugan, confidence and the small respect Sasuke held for him - enough to not threaten to behead Neji if he didn't keep his distance, and to cut his tongue out if he didn't watch it.

''I need you in my office. You have one hour to get that venom out of you, before it damages any vital organs. '' She paused, and he was probably correct thinking it was only to somewhat highlight whatever she was wanting to say next. ''An injured ninja, is a useless ninja, as you'll be at it, take a bath too. From your smell not only I can guess the type of venom, its affect and the type of blood flowing out of your wounds. Straight after, head over to my residence.''

_So, that old hag really is a medic._ He told himself silently, sensing that Inuzuka was indeed catching up. Not wanting to face him, he decided that following orders could pay off, and walked (for a change) over to the hospital.

* * *

He really hated walking. Out of all ways of transport it was one of the least convenient ways. He was constantly slowed down by the crowds and bumped into, and obviously the noise. The meaningless, blended in chatter, which seemed to get louder and louder with every step. There was only one time of the year when it was so crowded in Konoha, and that was when the village hosted the chuunin exams. For unknown to Sasuke reasons, only two villages hosted those.

Seeing the hospital door nearby, he felt relatively more content. As an Uchiha, he naturally strong and healthy, and rarely had the opportunity to see a hospital for longer than a day or two per a couple of years. He never liked hospitals. Not because of the blood, death, and cries of a person in pain, or someone choking on their own sanguine fluid, but because it had that annoyingly caring atmosphere which made him feel helpless and weak.

The door creaked loudly, exposing to him a whole corridor of nothingness. It was as if death marched in, killed everyone and walked out, not even bothered to shut the door. For a moment he stayed there, standing, in complete silence.

He frowned. If nobody is going to acknowledge his presence, it's their thing. He just wanted to get everything done and over with. He looked around the rooms.

All labels were written in kanji.

His pride never allowed him to admit, that he was in fact weak with the Chinese alphabet, and if he was to get tested on his knowledge of the language, he'd make sure nobody ever got to know his final results. He's Sasuke Uchiha. He'd think of something to cover up even a bad score.

_Who even needs Chinese? There's always katakana and hiragana. It makes writing pointlessly more difficult. It's a ninja village, not Edo.*_

He surveyed the room. The one to the right had a red cross on it, which if he remembered correctly, meant 'rescue and medical care,' or at least it did last time he was almost dying.

He pushed the door open nonchalantly, wiping a droplet of sweat off his forehead with his sleeve.

First thing that he noticed was the strong smell of tea. It probably was standing untouched in the room for a long time. Next, his senses recorded a leaned over figure. A feminine figure, with unevenly cut and unnaturally coloured hair, with a faint shine and smell of sweat from fatigue. Her back rhythmically rose up and down gently. She didn't seem to notice his presence, leaning over a desk, with papers scattered all over it.

He was unsure what to do anymore. Did he really need to wake up the medic? The fever was – or seemed to be dying down. The headache and muscle pain he grown used to quick enough to ignore the stabbing sensation following every move.

Walking over to the cabinet, he decided that if the girl was indeed a good enough medic and ninja, she should be able to hear him and wake up herself. If she couldn't do even that, he wouldn't have entrusted his wounds into her hands anyway.

He looked with an irritated expression over all the glass bottles, with impossibly illegible handwritten labels, and cloths lying about.

All medics had illegible handwriting. It was a rule without exceptions.

He took one containing a clear liquid. He could remember that water, especially containing high levels of… Air, or rather part of air cleaned the wounds quite well, he recalled even today an accidentally overheard conversation of a medic. It finally became useful. He hoped that if it could clean the wound, then it probably counted for 'clearing' away the venom.

Or something like that. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and you can take risks if you're strong enough and have a medic nearby. (Maybe not a _yet_ conscious medic. But that could be easily changed.) And nothing to lose.

''That's not Hydrogen-Peroxide.''

His head turned quickly, like a lightening, sideways, maybe a bit too fast. He felt dizzy and his vision blurred.

He had to admit, that he did not hear her waking up, moving and coming close being him. Which annoyed him. He was usually more aware of his surroundings. Naturally, usually he wasn't drugged.

Her face was displaying slight concern. Her tone was kind, soft, as always when she spoke to him. A bit of fatigue, sadness.

Looking over at her, he stood the bottle back on the desk, and begun to unzip his top, revealing several smaller, however, badly infected cuts, covered in dried blood. ''What are you staring at? You're a medic. I was told to treat my scratches.''

''Scratches.'' She repeated, as the shirt fell down to the floor, exposing a deeper, wider and nastier wound on his back. Certainly, not a clean cut of a sword, internal bleeding bruise at his stomach… She just wondered how the hell he was still standing, and not fainting, overwhelmed by a fever.

That's when she realised how tired his eyes looked like, and how pale he was, how uneven his breathing still was. He already exhausted himself enough, getting the poison to circulate, and now if he suddenly rests, it won't do good either. It reminded her of the toxin Sasori used. With additional heavy metals, which were meant to attack muscle cells.

''Sasuke! Don't-''

He fell back, slightly, holding himself up, leaning against the cabinet weakly, now fully experiencing the invader liquid in his body, when he stopped moving about.

''Ah-'' He breathed out, ''Annoying.''

* * *

Sasuke never could fully recall what happened then. All he did remember was the whole world taking shades of orange and black for a short moment, before turning completely black. Then, well, he woke up elsewhere. Though before that, he felt weaker, sickly and every wound make sure that Sasuke knew of its existence, ensuring that with terrible pain which burnt in his body.

* * *

''I told you to _come_ to my office. Not to be _carried in_ on a stretcher.'' The noise rang in his mind. He shut his eyes tighter, hoping to battle it. With little results. ''And to seek medical help _immediately_, not to have a stroll over to the hospital and get into the way of Sakura's studies.''

Sasuke was really immune to pain and bothers after all these years. He could just get used to and forget about physical ache, but this insane ringing in his head always was one of the biggest miseries in Uchiha's life.

''Are you listening Sasuke?''

''With my full attention.''

He heard a sigh and the ringing stopped. Funny is, it always attacked him in Tsunade's presence. Although he could probably figure out why that was, he wouldn't risk the pointless trouble connected with concluding it out loud.

The door opened. He still couldn't bother to open his eyes. Maybe if he'll pretend to be still unconscious they'll just ignore him?

''Hajime mashita, Tsunade-sama. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.''**

Tsunade smiled. A warm smile, which Sasuke naturally could not see, and not that bothered him ; he could hear someone else speaking in the room – he could sense them, but not clearly. Usually emitted chakra, even if it was unused and faint, would give away other's positions. This wasn't the case.

''A pleasure to meet you, Hime-sama.*** However, it will not be me accompanying you. I'm in no position to take care of you, but one of the _best ninjas in the village_ would gladly see to you.'' The Hokage stated, soundly sorting papers on her vast desk and sitting down.

He could feel someone glaring at him. It wasn't paranoia. It was a rather simple fact.

''Him?''

''Him.''

From then on, Tsunade sounded even more disappointed, which was due to the regrettable first impression Sasuke made on 'Hime-sama', which begun to let her guard slip, letting a tone of doubt break through from time to time in the following conversations – which Sasuke was thankful didn't last long.

In fact, Sasuke, or anyone else, never heard Tsunade call anyone 'Hime', not even '-sama', with all other Kages being no exception. It was rare for the Hokage to refer to anyone with such respect, on the other hand, Uchiha could guess that the 'Hime' was a client, most likely wanting a guardian for a journey, willing to pay generously. Otherwise Tsunade wouldn't make him go all the way to the hospital and to her office. Maybe B rank mission. Maybe A.

Sasuke couldn't help but remember when He, Naruto and Sakura accompanied a bridge-builder and when in a blink of an eye a D rank mission gone up a rank or two. Not that it was a bad memory.

Put it's the _past_. It's _over_ _and done with._ No need to reminisce.

As soon as the Hime left the room, closing the door behind her, he automatically rose up into a sitting position. Accusingly glaring at Tsunade. Which again, either really didn't pay attention, busy with paperwork, or just wouldn't give him the satisfaction of getting acknowledged.

Either way, and whatever she was planning, he would not go with it. Although, he didn't deny being the 'best ninja in the village.' He didn't assume she meant him. He knew. Why else would I be here, he questioned silently.

''Tomorrow midnight you're setting off with her. I'll tell you the destination and details later.''

''No.''

''It's an A rank mission. Worth up to a million Ryo. If you accomplish it, I _may_ consider rewarding you.''

''I don't need money.''

''Don't push your luck Uchiha. You're not getting away from it. I let you return to Konoha, giving you one more chance than I should have. I can quickly undo that. If I do, the impressively high bounty for your head will be returned. I need not mention that Konoha will no longer be a shelter for you.''

Sasuke felt like telling her that she didn't need to mention _any_ of that, but he had a feeling that the painful ringing noise was close to being triggered again.

''On your way out think of an excuse as to why She encountered you laying down, pretending to be asleep, and how you can make up for that. Huh, what are you mumbling, Uchiha? You perfectly know that I _can_ hear. I can _**always**_ hear your whispers and mutterings. You're walking on thin ice, Sasuke!''

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey! This is my very first story - and I am super excited! I have several ideas for this story, I'm already thinking 5+ chapters forward. However I am new, so I'd appreciate small comments and bits of advice if the story gets any views - so if you happen to read it, please comment with some tips :D Sorry if I made it a bit lengthy - I wanted to give a glimpse of how the story will be going in the very first one. If that makes sense. I don't usually see a lot of Sasuke's POV stories or a third-person narration, so I might aswell :D

**_*Edo, was the name for the capital city of Japan, before Tokyo._**

**_** (First time-meeting greeting), Tsunade-sama. Please take care of me._**

**_***Princess (generalised term. Any daughter of a higher social status man was called Hime-sama.)_**

I do **_not_** own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto is the author of the manga.


	2. Chapter 2

'Tomorrow midnight' seemed like a long time away. Sasuke naturally did have a few days in a month to slack about without an aim during his free days, but he despised that. Life seemed so much more monotone and boring ever since he came back. Only during missions he felt and saw a glimpse of how it is to feel free and alive. This small part of adrenaline kept him going.

He never really developed any hobbies. As a kid he either plotted, wasted time with other team members or trained. Mostly trained, also he was quite strong - didn't feel the need to practice as often as he used to. Just enough to not let his muscles forget the reflexes and chakra control.

As to other Team Members – Naruto had missions of his own. Sakura was usually in the hospital. Of course, they did sometimes greet him, offer to spend time with him or just tag along and start chattering.

At first, as everything, it irritated Sasuke. Then, he grown used to it. It became bearable. He even caught himself being discontent about the absolute silence in the Uchiha residence a few times. Even fewer times he caught himself thinking that just maybe he could live like Sakura and Naruto. Now that it's a fresh start, he might try, like he did years back, when they were first put into teams ; back then, he thought he could leave the past on the pages of history and forget it.

Attentively, he glared at the at the tea cup on the table before him, as if it would do something spectacular any second, he suddenly heard, ''Sasuke-kun?''Looking over to the sliding shoji door, he saw a silhouette displayed on the rice paper screen. Another one joined it soon after.

He sighed quietly, as he got up. His arm inside the almost fully unzipped shirt, rather than sleeve, resting on the thick purple-rope belt, and his hand sticking out.*It was a habit for several men who wore kimonos. Although Sasuke preferred more convenient clothing and rarely even saw a kimono in his life, the habit remained, at least at times when he was relaxed. He must have picked it up young, seeing the majority of men wearing traditional clothing.

What do they call it? He thought to himself, as he walked over to the door, smirking lightly. 'Old love never dies'?

He pushed the sliding door to the side. To his minimal surprise, it was the noisy Uzumaki and annoying Haruno. Though, never before did they visit him in the Uchiha residence. Nobody wondered around there ever since the Massacre, apart from Sasuke, which stayed there ever since his return, or rather ever since Naruto fulfilled his promise to Sakura and dragged Sasuke back to the village.

The young Uchiha raised an eyebrow.

''You must be quite bored, no missions, nothing to do, so guess what?'' Sasuke didn't guess. ''We came to accompany you, eh, Sakura-chan?'' The wide grin displayed on Naruto's face didn't lose on confidence or pure and unexplained joy – it was the exact same smile he had years back.

Uzumaki could probably sense Sakura's slight discomfort and nervousness, and continued to speak. ''So, how about we spar? Just like before – without any needless murderous intent, eh? We'll see if the _Almighty Uchiha_ is as good as ever!''

Sasuke's smirk widened, slightly, just enough for Sakura to notice. Although her face didn't even twitch, her cheeks took a faint shade of pink.

* * *

It was late evening. Not awfully warm or cold, or dark for that matter ; the sky was filled with glowing dots, which resembled the floor in a cheap inn – covered in shattered glass of empty sake bottles.

Sasuke usually had such a romantic trail of thoughts and connotations.

The three of them stood on the highland, where there weren't as many trees in the way. The familiar feeling of solid earth beneath their soles brought back memories.

''Basic larger tools or weapons.'' She said, coming to Sasuke and pulling out the sword and scabbard from the knots and twists in his rope-belt. Uchiha managed to overcome his reflex of pulling the 'attacker' into an arm-break for touching his katana and stood still, looking straight at Naruto, opposite him.'' No highly destructive jutsu. The one who falls, loses.'' Sakura stated, crossing her arms, ''Ready? Hajime.**''

Sasuke attacked first. Without a second of preparation or hesitation, he launched himself in a sprint towards his opponent with a stike. Missed. As expected, Naruto jumped to the side, just avoiding the fist by centimetres.

Uchiha suddenly felt quite satisfied that he once copied Lee's techniques. What else are they supposed to use, if not taijutsu, when all of their major attacks could destroy the area?

Not wasting time, Sasuke twisted his body 90 degrees to face Naruto, his leg rose up in a side kick, hitting Naruto in the jaw and pushing him back. This was a basic scheme for taijutsu ; a quick, weaker attack, intended to make the opponent retreat slightly, continued by another series of attacks, which lead to the final. The quickest way to finish off an unprepared enemy.

However, calling Uzumaki 'unprepared' was a big underestimate. He fell back, catching his weight, on his palms, in a flawless handstand, and jumped back on two feet.

Another punch and kick from Sasuke – indentical. After a few more movements, falls and dodges, the blonde could find a pattern in Sasuke's attacks. Smiling, he quickly predicted what could come next, hoping that the Uchiha won't change the sequence suddenly.

Sasuke came in with a round kick, just before the blade of his foot made contact with Naruto's jaw, it was caught by a steady hand. Taking advantage of Uchiha's short moment of surprise, Uzumaki pulled on the leg, forcing Sasuke to lose balance and bend towards him, allowing the blonde's other hand to hit him painfully on the stomach, pushing the air out of his lungs, as the other let go of the leg, allowing full impact of the strike.

At first, Sakura attentively watched the fight. Announcing scored points and watching her team mates, though after an hour or two, it ended with the two friends still restlessly battling each other, testing their abilities, whilst the pink-haired girl drifted away into her dreams.

Naruto jumped back, breathing both deeply and quicker, he paused for a moment to look over to the girl… Woman lying against a nearby tree, no longer keeping record of points. He then turned to Sasuke.

''Draw?''

''She took my sword.'' He stated bluntly.

''You know what I mean – draw, nobody wins. We should head back now.''

As soon as the adrenaline settled down in Sasuke's body, he started to feel all the ache anew. Sakura did heal his internal injuries and gave him an antidote to the poison, but the wounds – or the remains of them, were still vulnerable to openings and had to take time to heal properly. He didn't bleed, but hell, it did hurt, as if someone would push a heated blade through his forearm and stomach.

He glanced over at Sakura, and walked over to her, kneeling down by her side.

''Are you going to carry her back?'' Naruto smiled.

''She's got my sword.'' Sasuke replied coldly.

''Excuses. Well, since you're at it, you can drop her off at her house, or the hospital. I'll get going for today, I still have things to do.''

_Since when did Naruto have anything to do apart from visiting Ichiraku Ramen?_

Sasuke rolled his eyes, zipped up his shirt, returned the sword to its right place and without further thought picked up Sakura. Naruto left rather quickly.

''You're heavy.'' He mumbled to himself more than anyone. Not that he never carried Sakura before – she was quite light-weight in comparison to … Right. He never carried anyone else. Somehow it was always Sakura that got herself into some unexplainable trouble and he ended up being the one to carry her to safety.

Annoying.

Well, maybe not that annoying. He couldn't deny that once asleep at least, she was quite endurable.

* * *

It was barely a few weeks since he returned ; Sasuke quickly got used to the surroundings. He wasn't welcomed like a hero or a criminal - that is despite the gossips that went all over the village for the first few days. He was given a chance, a new try at life, it's as if someone took him all the way back to the moment when Sasuke was about to leave Konohagakure and stopped him. As if all in-between never happened.

* * *

**Author's Note** : Got the second chapter up! :3 This was more to show how Sasuke was settling in the village again and how his relations to his comrades are. Just so I don't miss anything. Next chapter, I'm planning on starting on my actual plot - and I might think of a better summary... For now I'd like to make this romantic later on. Not much, but symbolically, and if I do, then something on the lines of SasukexSakuraXOC or just SasuSaku.

Anywho, thank you for reading the chapters! I was shocked when I saw 90 views, so thank you for that! :D

*If you didn't quite understand, it's a pose similar to Kojakou's from Dramatical Murder.

** Hajime ; ''begin'', in this context, 'begin the fight.' I might use more fancy wording for martial arts, since I have a bit of knowledge, but I'm trying to avoid it being confusing.


	3. Chapter 3

Just as Sasuke expected : the next day was exhausting. Mentally of course. He was lazing about as much has he possibly could before the upcoming mission.

Sasuke realised 3 painful things, first of all ; he didn't have any long-term hobbies, which proved to be extremely difficult to endure considering the amount of free time he had. 12 hours to do as he wished was a luxury too big for him. It's like a poor man suddenly finding an ore of pure gold. He just doesn't know what on earth to do with it. He never handled it.

Second heart-breaking realisation was that the Uchiha residence was silent throughout these 12 hours and he did long for some noise. Being a simple-minded person he always was, but never admitted to be, Sasuke went for a walk. For the young Uchiha it was an act of complete despair and desperation for human company.

Just as he expected, the insane chatter was even more annoying and bothersome than silence. Shortly he found peace anew in a tea shop nearby.

Whilst he ordered tea, (which he did without troubling himself with excess politeness ; whilst the Tea Girl begun to nervously mumble _all_ types of tea they had to offer, he interrupted her speech, which clearly took all the guts she had, and stated that he had _exactly_ 100 Ryu with him, and that he is willing to spend _exactly _100 Ryu on _any_ tea that costs _exactly_ 100 Ryu. After such a precise order, she couldn't go wrong.) Sasuke then came to his third and final realisation ; his lifestyle was ridiculous. Of course, that's not how he worded it in his trail of thought, but certainly he came to the simple conclusion that he can't shut himself out of the world within the family residence, where resistant to cleaning blood stains still remained on the walls and floors there and there, whilst he has the chance to live like he once wanted to. He could live normally. The first proof to his truly magnificent theory was that he managed to order tea, like a normal person… Almost.

Sasuke didn't believe in 'fresh starts' and people changing, but the only reason he could come up with was : why not? What did he have to lose anymore? Not much. Maybe even more chances to change something.

In the end not a droplet left the tea cup. He stared blankly at it the whole time, as if the contains of it could do something incredible which only he could see. Once the Tea Girl stressfully questioned why he didn't drink – or would he like his money back and such – stuttering as if it was her first time seeing a man.

For that short moment, when his mind went blank and filled with a sense of calamity Sasuke let her keep the money, he felt a little more sympathetic for a moment, he saw something that reminded him of Sakura in the girl. Naturally that was a moment. Like all positive feelings in Uchiha's life it did not last long. The remaining part of the day was a snap back to reality. His mind became clouded again. He couldn't think too clearly like usual, again.

* * *

''You're late.'' Tsuande announced disapprovingly. She was furthermore annoyed to see Sasuke walking without a rush to the meeting place.

''So is _she_.'' He was correct. Tsunade was waiting practically alone, if he wouldn't could the two shinobi-wannabe samurais. So, she really was born quite high up the nobility ladder. Their armour looked light and solid. Maybe it even was practical, but Sasuke would hate to be limited and bound by scales of iron threaded together. It definitely wasn't comfortable when it came up to fast and short range combat.

While Sasuke was evaluating the armour he's seen for probably the first time in his life, (Hidden villages never required those,) two more marched up to the training grounds, in one hand bearing the excessively decorated and large helmets, whilst the other hung almost loose, with the fingers resting on their sword hilts at the corresponding hip. In between the men walked a woman dressed in clothes similar to those in Sengoku era. Long and wide sleeves, wider hakama which was fitted to the leg at the ankle – if he met her in some other situation, he'd just assume she's a miko. Long black hair and a red mantle.

The men pulled the bridles of two black horses with leather saddles and sacks full of necessities. Once again Sasuke found something a lot more interesting than his quest.

Tsunade bowed politely, and begun once again introducing the situation to everyone. It was so surprise however that Sasuke could never recall what exactly she said. Not even the day after. But he could always remember two magnificently built horses and (probably) too expensive armour.

* * *

The first night went accordingly to Uchiha's expectations and delight ; peaceful silence. Something he rarely in his life experienced around women.

And equally, just as he expected, a girl brought up in luxury isn't used to over-night long term travels. She fell asleep, and he had to link the two horses with a rope, so she wouldn't fall behind. She had light sleep, although sitting quite comfortably she woke up often, only to drift back to her own dreamland.

_A rank._ He thought to himself, disappointed. _A rank to ride through fields with an unconscious girl. Are they making a joke, testing my self-control or not telling me everything? _ He questioned, looking over to the said girl. She wasn't ugly, he'd give her that, her face didn't bear scars or any major signs of disease in early childhood, but she lacked in some sense.

Tsunade need not worry about her safety, nor Sasuke's self-control.

Suddenly his trail of thought was interrupted. He heard the splash of water – a poodle, which his horse just stepped into. In accordance with the general rule _every_ ninja learns the hard and painful way ; the devil is in the details. It _didn't_ rain tonight. Nor did it yesterday.

In short – it was bad. It was really bad, and that's about all Sasuke's brain could process. They were riding through open land. No forests, no place to hide, no place to run. Meaning, it won't be a short fight first of all, second of all, he had a number one candidate for a hostage with him.

With a swish, a sharp blade cut through the air, the girl reflexively reached for her neck, holding onto it as if she was chocking, she gasped, feeling a piercing pain all the way from her collar bone, to jaw, and feeling a thin droplet of blood running down her neck.

Sasuke let go of her hair. The blade went straight past, lightly grazing the skin.

''What was that supposed to be?'' she exclaimed.

After letting her head hang loosely for the past hours, she had every right to be in ache, when her head was roughly pulled back by the black, long strands on it.

''Dammit. Stay still.'' An equally foreign as annoying voice commanded.

Without hesitation, he drew his sword, got up and stepped onto Hime's horse, his feet standing surely on either sides of the saddle. Whatever happened then, the not yet quite awake girl could register with her eyes. She doubted she could see anything even if she was wide-awake. The only thing that met her senses was the continuous screams and rustles of metal blades being reflected off the surface of the sword.

At that moment the source of the bothersome tone took shape ; four curved lines on the forehead protector, a standard ANBU outfit, and an irritatingly satisfied expression. He leaped straight at Sasuke, with thin kunai knives sticking out of his fists in between the fingers like claws.

_Too easy._ His sword performed a quick spin, Sasuke pulled his arm back, for more force – he pushed on his feet and off the horse, leaping at the attake, aiming to let the blade pierce straight through his stomach . But something wasn't quite right… The sword _did_ go straight through as planned, but, so did Sasuke ; he turned around to see a huge opening in the Kirigakure's ANBU torso growing back together. The ANBU himself didn't seem to notice and proceeded to get closer and closer to the girl.

Not wasting any more time, Sasuke took a deep breath and exhaled with a Kaeton no jutsu, sending a tongue of fire directly at the attacker, which was barely a metre away from his target.

Was it risky? Not really, unless the Kirigakure forehead protector was just a disguise. Assuming it was a water clone, the Kaeton would be enough to evaporate it, and the clone's structure, should be enough to shield the girl from the fire.

Hime's eyes widened, as she saw, what looked (to her) like a human being evaporating before her eyes. The image was a lot more horrific to someone to who ''Water clone'' was an unknown concept. Though her reaction wasn't even comparable to the mounts', which stood on their back legs and started to jump in fear (more than pain. The fire barely licked their skin.) She tried to hold on and calm the horses. One had was securely holding her on the back of the mount, as the other reached to its neck, in a comforting gesture. That would have worked, maybe, but since the two horses were bound together and close to each other, one scared the other, and then vice versa.

With a powerful motion, the horse threw the rider off.

Sasuke activated his sharingan, seeing (hopefully) the real ANBU taking shape, using the left behind poodle near the horses, or rather where the horses used to stand – once both of them were freed of burdens on their backs, they ran away.

Seeing the insane image in front of her eyes, the unnatural movement and building up of water, Hime pulled herself up, holding onto her rib cage at first, trying to get a feel of it, to see if any ribes were badly broken, once she was sure that they were all more or less fine, she proceeded to follow common sense and move away.

It all happened in a blink of an eye – Sasuke took advantage of the few seconds it took to fully complete the water structure to create a Susanoo rib cage around Hime. It took some effort to save chakra and not to create a full skeleton, with a katana and bow and overcome the habit. By this time the final droplets of water were gathering together at the top of the head.

Uchiha wanted to end it quickly, he was prepared to cast a genjutsu as soon as the ANBU would open his eyes, however he, very wisely kept looking just above Sasuke's head. It wasn't a direct enough eye contact for genjutsu… It resembled what Lee would do when using taijutsu.

Another wave of various tools washed over Sasuke – he jumped, kicked thin air, and turned over to flip, avoiding the blades and needles, as he landed, he pushed himself off the ground in the direction of the enemy in a small leap, and continued to shorted the distance in a run. The ANBU looked more than prepared, he quickly, too quickly was able to put up a mist in the air. His chakra which Sasuke could see with the sharingan soon blended in with similar chakra all around. He slowed down unable to see, straining his eyes, trying to make anything of the blurry nothingness before him.

He had to be further away, otherwise he'd see at least an outline, that means that he was going straight for his soon-to-be hostage… Then he heard a soft sound. The moisture from the mist settled down on the grass, making a faint sound under a careless footstep. And that was enough. Sasuke turned on his heel, and appeared behind the enemy, making a clean cut all the way through the neck, creating a fountain of blood, and leaving the head hanging backwards in a grotesque freeze-frame.

The mist settled completely. He didn't move, still holding on the lifeless body with his arm around both shoulders, keeping the ANBU in his deadly embrace from behind, pressing his shoulder blades to his chest, to leave him in the 'standing' pose.

He looked directly at Hime, which wasn't that far away now.

''Looks familiar? Why was a Kirigakure ninja after you?''

* * *

**Author's Note: ** I've been a little busy, but I'm nonetheless so happy to get the third chapter uploaded! :D I'm also really happy about having my first two followers and my first story being added to a community! Thank you so much for reading!

I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as good - especially the beginning. I started it about 3 times and just couldn't word it right o.0

Oh right - and Happy Halloween for yesterday! :D

I'm thinking of doing a Sasuke x Sakura x OC... Especially the OC part is a bit risky, I don't want Sasuke out of character, nor do I want a Mary Sue OC... We'll see how it'll go :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note** : This time I'm putting it at the very beginning - I did make Sasuke a bit out-of-character or so it seems, although I've promised not to do so last time, _**however**_ note that I'm avoiding making Sasuke over-powered, but I will also not make him ridiculously weak and naive...

In simple words ; **everything** will make sense within the next one or two chapters (if it doesn't already). I apologise if this chapter is quite badly written... I wrote it fairly quickly.**  
**

* * *

Her expression was filled with horror. Plain horror. It was a face you'd see on a little girl, first time seeing how badly her father hits and shouts at her mother ; the heavy and uneven breathing, the wide eyes on the verge of tears.

She bit her lower lip, gulped, took a deep breath. All it was is to make her _appear_ calmer, naturally she couldn't quite relax. She never before had seen a ninja fight, thus she wasn't used to the elements behaving in ways she could never even imagine, enemies being 'burnt' and 'evaporated' and then reappearing in a completely different place…

''I don't know.'' She said finally. Not too quickly on purpose, she sounded confident and honest, but not too confident. Not as if she was prepared to answer the question.

''You don't know.'' He repeated. ''He probably did. Too bad he's dead, don't you think so?'' Sasuke loosened his grip and the body fell, hitting the ground with a quiet and low _thud_.

Sasuke wiped the blooded blade on his sleeves, which were stained with the red liquid anyway, before sheathing the sword into the scabbard. _First night, and I've already got blood all over me._ Uchiha smiled to himself lightly, then looked up at the girl before him with a stern look. ''Oddly enough he was especially keen to kill you. Now, get up, we need to find the horses before they run too far. All the money was in a sack attached to the saddle, so we can't buy a new one either.''

* * *

Sasuke didn't expect Hime to be anywhere_ near_ his speed when it came to running.

He was correct.

After a short moment, he could already sense her falling behind, and without a word, he came to her, grabbed hold of her legs without a word and sat her on his back, despite her questioning and protesting. ''Hold on – not onto my neck!'' He frowned lightly, pulling her tightly wrapped arm away from under his head, once she quietened down, he started to run in the direction he hoped the horses went. _Where does a newly freed horse goes to first? Field of course. There are plenty of fields here, surrounded by too dense forests for them to get through._

She was as light as Sakura, according to Sasuke's naturally _perfect_ judgement. Somehow he felt slightly relaxed ; he almost forgot about the foul-smelling blood on his clothes, about the horses and about the whole mission. His mind felt blank and each action came out to be automatic and unconscious.

''You once fought with all the Kages, didn't you? _I've heard of you before_ – you tried to slaughter everyone at the Summit.'' Her voice wasn't an exactly unpleasant noise that is seemed to be a few minutes ago. Normally Sasuke would ignore or question the question, but he still couldn't focus on anything too much, his mind was completely clouded with an odd feeling of peace.

''Yeah, back then…'' He was about to answer. He cut off quickly, spotting the two black mounts before them – a few metres away – still (thankfully) tied together and with all their belongings. Quickening the pace the abandoned his unfinished answer and headed straight for them. He felt a warm breath on the back of his neck, followed by a sounding sigh of disappointment.

Once they got there, he felt an odd feeling of slight dissatisfaction he couldn't recall feeling before, maybe when he was leaving Sakura behind on the bench the day he left. He didn't like returning to what was before. Not even the events that took place last month. Nothing that had anything to do with him, Orochimaru, Kaguya, Akatsuki and Shinobi War.

He let go of her legs, and let her get off. Immediately both the disappointment and the peace burst like a soap bubble, all his annoyance, anger and exhaust he should have felt when running suddenly returned, maybe a little weakened. It was as if someone ripped out a few pages out of a book and replaced them with their own preferred way the story should have went which didn't match the plot whatsoever.

He turned his head sharply to look at her. Nothing seemed to change. She was nothing of that doll he was carrying, which resembled Sakura so much, her voice wasn't a calming melody, and her presence was once more an inescapable bother.

''What are you staring at?'' She asked innocently, climbing onto her black mount.

''_You're annoying.''_

* * *

Sasuke was pleased to find every small belonging of his untouched in the sacks. He was furthermore pleased that they… He found the horses and didn't need to run through the whole Fire Country with an ungrateful woman on his back.

Once they reached the denser forests, they were forced to walk by foot along with their mounts. That's when Sasuke was reminded once again that Hime was a human, a weaker than him human, who never before lived without all the luxuries surrounding her. This time, she wasn't falling behind, since Uchiha kindly slowed down the pace (his legs weren't especially happy about the sudden, long and restless sprint from before and mercilessly ached.) This time, it was Hime's stomach that loudly, yet with all dignity, demanded food.

Sasuke didn't even twitch. He completely ignored it, and after a few minutes announced that _he's_ hungry, and therefore they'll make a fire and stay there for the remainder of the night. Not that she complained.

Tying the horses to a branch wasn't overly difficult and took Sasuke a few seconds. ''Make a fire, I'll find something to eat.'' He commanded quite casually, whilst the girl looked down, and in an awkward manner touched the back of her neck, catching Sasuke's attention. ''What? You know how to do that, don't you?''

No answer.

He sighed. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Once Hime done _exactly_ as Sasuke instructed, under his own (modestly speaking) precise moderation, he could proceed into breathing out a small flame into the dry leaves and branches in the middle of a stone circle – to separate them from other, also dry and perfectly flammable materials around.

She appeared to be slowly getting used to it after all there was no overly shocked look to see him breathe fire like a dragon this time.

For Sasuke, staying overnight and over_day_ in forests was nothing new. Areas like these were full of animals, full of life ; full of food on four legs. Returning, Uchiha carried a few rabbits by their ears, of which, all had _still _heavily bleeding wounds after a thrown knife pierced through their flesh.

He dropped them at Hime's feet, just to learn that she _never_ before skinned, cooked or ate rabbits.

Another sigh. _Even more annoying than Sakura._

* * *

Once Sasuke alone managed to hunt and prepare the food, and ate they both sat opposite each other ; he stared blankly at the flames, she stared at him.

''You asked about the Kage Summit.'' He stated coldly.

''I did.''

''Why do you want to know?''

Hime had to admit to herself that she wanted to avoid Uchiha's eyes. She _did_ avoid them. His eyes were showing only pain, hate, anger and darkness – which was beyond the fact that he had dark eyes. It was inner darkness… Nonetheless she forced herself to get up. Most of all, she wanted to avoid any 'inconvenience' as she called it, which included uncomfortable for her questions.

She stood up slowly, and walked over to him, sitting by his side, trying to avoid the blood all over his clothes and get close even a little bit, which bothered Sasuke ; it reminded him of Karin.

''Since when are we so familiar?''

''I'm cold.'' She stated simply, making herself comfortable and lean lightly against his arm. This small physical contact was enough for the odd peace to wash over him again. He promised himself not to let his tongue slip, to keep a clear mind and cold blood… He failed. Once more she questioned about the Summit.

''At that time, did you kill the Mizukage?''

''No.'' He said, in an unnaturally for him pleasant and warm - almost kind tone.

''Why did you want to kill them?''

A quiet voice in the young Uchiha's mind screamed how _clear _and _obvious_ the situation was. However the calamity muted his voice of reason and logical thinking. Sasuke possibly knew a lot more already from his own deduction, which was camouflaged by this dreamy peace.

His heart felt light like a feather, he felt his mouth moving and heard a masculine voice, sometimes interrupted by a feminine one, which sounded almost like a melody ; like a lullaby he never heard as a child. He didn't know what was said despite being present and involved in the discussion but felt almost as if he'd be asleep partially.

He was becoming less and less aware of his surroundings, until everything in an instant stopped existing. As if the author dropped the pen, not quite sure what to write next and froze the characters in a moment he was not clear on how to continue.

* * *

He woke up first, sharply opening his eyes… And then regretting it. His vision was blurry, he was dizzy and didn't even attempt to stand up, not yet, when he felt he could throw up at any moment. He never was drunk in his life, but he was sure that it was exactly how it would be like.

Hime was in her own spot, asleep. Since he wasn't yet too functional and had time, he decided to try and dig up from the farthest corner of his mind his voice of reason. Metaphorically naturally. He tried to remember what happened last night.

To his great annoyance his memories were but strips of what really happened. _Right, Sasuke._ His second act of complete desperation this week ; talking-thinking to himself. _You killed that ANBU, then picked up that bothersome woman, and then… Then you found the horses. _

_Nonsense. _For several more minutes he continued to battle his thoughts over and over again until he concluded that he _couldn't_ possibly find them so soon, after they ran and galloped God knows how long and far. The faint ache in his legs agreed that it wasn't a quick stroll through the fields to catch up with them.

_So, we've got a gap. What happened in between? Nothing… _He felt calm. The image of the girl became unreasonably idealised for some time and then he was walking through the forest, pulling onto the horses' bridles.

Three questions appeared. One, he asked out-loud, others appeared ridiculously possible, thus he decided to keep it to himself.

Firstly ; _can you get drunk on anything apart from alcohol? _

Secondly ; _what else besides genjutsu and narcotics could cause that memory gap? _(Sasuke didn't believe that someone who he couldn't even sense chakra within could overpower him when it comes to genjutsu. Likewise, she didn't have an occasion to add anything odd to anything he ate or drank – the motives, he would get to know today morning. That was his second decision.)

Thirdly ; ''Just who, or _what_ are you?''

The girl, purred like a cat in response and without a hurry opened her eyes and woke herself up lazily.

''You want to know my name? Where are my manners? I'm Kazuno, of the Yoru clan. My father's the daimyo of the-''

''Then why isn't Mizukage and the rest of the Daimyo protection squad stuck with you in my place? Is that why you're so fixed on the Fourth?''

She slowly stood up, so did he - but more confidently and sharply, not letting her know how much effort it took to _not_ loose balance at this point. The sword screeched, as it moved against the scabbard while it was being unsheathed.

''I don't think so, Yoru.'' She froze. ''You're forgetting who knows where we are, and which way is Kirigakure. Besides, I'd call it _instinct of survival _to not get too insolent towards an S-ranked criminal.''

He couldn't hide that he was satisfied with himself. Sasuke continued ; ''Now, it's my turn to ask questions. **Sit down** and **don't move.**'' He felt furthermore satisfied when she did as she was instructed, nonetheless, he wished he could just leave her there. Not caring whether she lives through the night ; just return to his Uchiha residence and shut himself back out of this pathetic world. But firstly, he decided that before he does anything else, that brat is going to learn to not underestimate others - and especially him - so quickly and ignorantly, as well as that, the whole situation was getting him both furious and curious.

This time, Sasuke made sure that she was at a safe distance ; no where near him, but not far enough to do anything unexpected.


	5. Chapter 5

The sliding doors were violently opened, and then closed behind a man, wearing a more significant to the higher social classes kimono, and his fairly short hair (for the local standards) in a small ponytail bun, as black as the polished scabbard at his side, containing an old chokuto blade – a very dear to the family bastard sword, with a straight one-and-a-half-handed blade, and one blunt edge, which was passed on through generations since times when items with Chinese origin were on the top-shelves, which naturally was something beyond her memory.

He came inside, like always, complaining about politics, the authority and how 'Idiots surrounded him'. He repeated daily how 'it wasn't what he survived Yagura's bloody reign for' and how 'everything was 'going to the dogs''. Whenever she asked what exactly was _it_, he would give her the same answer.

''Look outside of the window. What do you see? Because I see a nation that for a few years was developing and rising from the ashes and puddles of blood. That finally looked _normal_, and didn't reek of smoke rising from the burning bodies of our neighbours. Then everything once again went back to the dust, famine, war and ridiculousness of yesterday!''

Kirigakure was indeed changing drastically back to what once _was_. The 'Survival of the Fittest' fights in the chuunin exams were revived and brought into practice once more, whilst the main focus of the new Mizukage seemed to be military development… Everything resembled Yagura's reign ever since Chojuro was made the Kage. In all fairness, nobody could foresee that. He always was a timid, calm man, until he suddenly stopped attending the Kage Summits. Shigure - because his name _was _Shigure, had very clear views on politics – if the rest of the daimyo agreed with him to get rid of the Kage, they would have a fair chance to do so, and definitely do Kirigakure a favour. New mizukage was young, and kages rarely retired before their death. Which wouldn't be an issue if the rest of the council wouldn't be afraid to go against Chojuro.

He smiled, a very reassuring and apologetic smile, saying ''Sorry for that. I've probably drank a bit too much. Have they come yet?''

''They're in the guest room on the left.''

''Thank you,'' He gave her a quick, fatherly kiss on the top of her head, and walked through the residence.

* * *

''Am I late?''

''Not more than usual, Shigure. Sit down with us.''

There were about 10 other men in the room, all sitting in Seiza in an almost perfect circle. All of them were landlords and a part of the council. Without further waste of time, Shigure assumed the meeting had begun and spoke first, taking the bottle of sake on a small wooden table before him and pouring it into the 12 cups.

''The Mizukage said he wanted to introduce conscriptions, at the next Full Moon the latest.''

Heavy and uncomfortable silence filled the room ; nobody moved. The fear, like cold mud, numbed faces, constrained limbs, closed throats.* For a longer moment none of them felt like they had anything to say, like if there would be no point anyway ; if their fate was already written down in a book with impossible to rip out pages and inerasable ink. Seeing the clear uneasiness, Shigure continued. ''Meaning that he is serious about gathering an army – we cannot afford that, or allow it. Things are getting out of hand and villages around our borders no longer feel safe.'' He closed his eyes in mild annoyance and took a deep breath. ''I would like to bring up the offer about choosing a new Mizukage once more-''

''You're insane.'' Caught off track Shigure paused to look at his audience. ''You remember – and don't even pretend you don't – how one of us once proposed that in a council meeting before ; the next night he was gone. Nobody ever found him, or his body for that matter. There were several missions to assassinate him – all ended in the same manner. Whoever is considered a threat, disappears. I don't know what about you, but I value my life.'' Several nods and mumblings of agreement sounded through the room.

_What a bunch of cowards and idiots_, Shigure thought to himself, looking over to the last, 12th cup which was still standing untouched on the table. There was no 12th to drink from it. He was perfectly aware of the possible danger, but he'd rather lose his life, knowing that he died with honour and left behind ideals which could be once put to practice (and he sincerely hoped that it didn't require the ultimate sacrifice for them to be considered. He wasn't insane. He valued his life, but he also valued the country, hidden village and his land.)

''Be realistic Shigure, we have no chance against one of the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist. Only the kage has access and can give out missions to ninjas.''

* * *

The meeting lasted a few hours, during which the men would argue, shout and complain, and Kazuno would quietly yet with the whole satisfaction be thankful that the walls were made of rice paper… She knew that as a woman she'd never be allowed to enter that meeting, and if she even tried to get close to the room, she would be seen through the walls without the need for Byakugan eyes. Nonetheless, she was more than interested in what was happening, and she found that once they started to drink (so after a few minutes) they'd talk about a lot more things than usual, in greater detail and with their opinions. Naturally it all would relate to politics – in times like this, not once and not twice did she learn more than during real lessons.

About half way through the Summit her brother – the heir to the Landlord title – would slowly make this way to the room. It was his duty, according to her father, for him to attend and get to know the lands he lives in. Shigure's son always had the idea that he knew everything – and he knew it all better than anyone else. It was one of his traits that people would say he inherited from his father, therefore he didn't willingly attend the meetings. Another reason why he didn't love to go there, was because he was the only one who supported everything the Kage did ; he believed that a country's strength is measured in the greatness of its armed forces, and in a few other rather controversial ideas that he'd never speak about openly, especially not in the presence of his father – afterall, he did want to remain as the heir.

From what Kazuno heard – and let's note that she heard everything. Well, almost everything, her brother didn't speak. He seemed to sit in silence and just listen to the others. _Nonesense._ She told herself silently, _that idiot doesn't even appreciate being able to be there. He has the chance to participate in the meeting like a real landlord._ Of course, she would be grateful and participate – if only her views and ideas would be taken into consideration, inter alia ; if she was the first born _son_.

Towards the end, after the conspiracy theories that the akatsuki was revived with their original purpose and once again pulled the strings of Kirigakure, and got rid of the previous Mizukage who appeared troublesome for them, her brother left the room, once he was sure that the others drank enough for them to not remember him leaving, or feel forgiving enough to not bother him later.

''Already bored?''

''Yeah. By the way, I was supposed to tell you ; that miko oni-baba wanted to see you today aswell.''

She sighed, standing up. ''She's a nice person, so – _watch your tongue or have it cut from your head._'' The last part she almost sang in quite fluent English despite her Japanese accent, which ended up sounding like 'watcha toung o- have e cut-fro m-you head'. She didn't have many foreign language lessons, especially those from the Land of Dragons* which was far enough to rarely be relevant in day-to-day lives. Nevertheless, as a young girl she was heartbroken to find that the land was named after a mythical dragon who was believed to have existed, and didn't really have any real ones.

With all dignity and pride to make a good reference, she made her way outside, pulling her kimono together and fixing the obi – she loved wearing yukatas, especially in summer, but after a few times she wore traditional clothing – her love for them deepended, but she also found how unpractical they were if she made any stretched movements.

It was still early morning – too early for the market streets to be at their finest and busiest, but too late for them to be completely empty. The shrine, where the old miko would teach Kazuno wasn't far – she barely had to cross through all the aristocrat area of the village, go through the high walls and gates, and in between the middle-class homes, there was a shrine and temple, which was always open, for anybody wanting to pray to Binzuru-Sonja, the God of curing of illnesses and good vision. With it being one of the smaller shrines, of one of the minor deities. Nonetheless, it was Kazuno's favourite. She liked the peace and calamity of the place, even if it was just an illusion.

As she walked, she realised how odd it was for the Mizukage to just retire. She wasn't even old and had no real reason to leave - thanks to her Kirigakure was better than ever. Unless, she was threatened, or killed and the 'retirement' was just a story fed to the public.

* * *

At the age of 6 Kazuno was for the first time brought to the shrine to learn about typically feminine practices (in accordance to her father's words). Back then, she feared both the old, rarey visited building as well as the old lady who was the miko, not only because of the generally eerie look of the place – as if it could collapse any second, but also because of a traumatic (for a 6 year old) experience on her first day.

* * *

''Can we go home now? I promise I'll read all the scrolls in my room and study for the rest of my life.'' Like any 6 year old girl, Kazuno wasn't afraid to do anything, just to not go there. The night before, her brother was sure to make her scared of the place with unheard stories of ghosts, demons and apparent mysterious death stories related to the shrine. Like any 6 year old girl, Kazuno didn't even think of questioning her elder brother's words.

''Hush now, I promise you'll enjoy learning from Kaede-sama.'' Not that Shigure back then ever met the miko, however, he had to motivate his stubborn daughter even a bit. Afterall, the current plan was for her to be a miko in the future ; she couldn't be the daimyo afterall, therefore to avoid her feeling like a third wheel in the residence, she would leave to serve at a shrine. That was the plan because for all this time Shigure could not find her any possible spouse. Not one boy was born into a higher social class family for the past years, who wouldn't already have a planned wife. Naturally, Kazuno was too young to understand, so she wasn't told everything. Just to keep her motivated, even a bit.

* * *

Shigure sighed in relief once they finally reached the shrine, since the miko was indeed a pleasant lady. He could be sure that his daughter wouldn't be spoilt, but also wouldn't hate going there. It was a quick judgement to make after a few minutes of conversation, but he was confident in his 'knowledge about people.' Her warm personality matched her white kimono, black long hair, and a wide red hakama, which made her look as if she was pulled straight from the Sengoku era.

''Kazuno, I'll leave you for today with Kaede-sama, alright? I'll come for you tomorrow morning.'' He said with a warm and comforting tone. He had to admit that the shrine emitted something special – a kind of soothing aura, which was probably the only reason why Kazuno agreed in the end, if not for her nerves to be calmed, she'd probably start crying and making an unnecessary scene, making the situation simply uncomfortable for both of the adults.

Kaede smiled reassuringly at her, stretching out a hand towards Kazuno in a friendly manner, which surely worked. The little girl's restored confidence allowed her to take the miko's hand, and end the day with something that wasn't supposed to happen.

She didn't remember much from that day – rather the terrible fear of returning there later, but she still could recall the overflowing calamity that hit her like a tsunami wave, and how she fainted just as she touched the miko. In normal circumstances Kaede would be executed on the spot for harming the landlord's daughter, but Shigure knew better. The next morning, as she woke up back at home, she and her father received a satisfying explanation.

''Long ago, there was a woman ; Kaguya, she would lead her army in battle, and to ensure their victory, she took the fruit of the Holy Tree, which gave them all a unique spiritual energy ; chakra. This energy had various uses, of which – ninjutsu, the most popular amongst ninjas. It was the only form of energy that humans learnt to control, with it being easier for those born into Ninja Clans – as they were brought to life with a faint ability to do so. However, there are various types of energy, which existed long before Kaguya – and those included Pure energy. Godly energy – which is believed to be only accessibly by Gods, what naturally isn't true. Everyone is born with chakra, likewise everyone is born with Pure energy. Yang energy, which was adapted to be used by ninjas as Yang Release 'chakra'. Similarly there's Yin. The difference is that man has only used power to destroy and fight, and thus, other means of using 'chakra' are very rare.''

Kazuno was taught the theory later, for long years. Shigure didn't even attempt to remember everything.

They were also told that Yang and Yin energies can be experienced when dense in an area, like the shrine, which was dense with it, giving an illusion similar to genjutsu, which just comforted the soul. Kazuno lost consciousness due to an overflow of it that she wasn't prepared for, and Kaede emitted such large amounts, because it was also dense within her – like chakra when used is possible to sense since it's denser than normal, and Kaede was always using it – whenever someone asked the deity for curing, it was her duty to cure the person, and as she was aging, she found it more difficult to control the energy that she didn't like to generalise with chakra, even when she wasn't using it, which caused the accidental emissions.

Later, Kazuno grew more immune to Yang chakra – for it to not have such an effect on her, which made the lessons possible. It resembled normal chakra controlling taught in shinobi academies, except, not once was she taught any attack jutsu. As she grew more mature, she begun to question the existence of the God of the Shrine, if he even wasn't the one to cure people. At times like this Kaede always had an answer prepared, which did nothing but annoy her. Despite the rationality of the miko's answers, she couldn't and wouldn't understand or want to understand religion.

''All energy around you came from somewhere. Plants use the energy from sunlight, but it isn't a spiritual energy. The Gods can use it, but they usually choose not to, for whatever reasons. They don't need to. They're Gods and can do as they wish, but they gave this energy to humans, for them to use it accordingly to their will. You could have been sent to a Shinobi Academy to learn how to kill with chakra, but you're here, to learn how to cure and heal the body and soul, whether you want it or not. Now, stop plucking the grass and focus.''

* * *

Now, Kazuno didn't mind returning to the shrine. She had her own views on Gods which she learnt the hard way to not speak of, and she had her own sentiment towards the place.

''What's so urgent?'' She asked, hearing the old miko's footsteps coming closer. It was a significant and unique for her gentle and graceful _tik tap, tik tap_ of her sandals.

However, this time, along with the miko, she heard a few more, strong steps – almost marching, and the rustle of metal armour, put together into light scales, typical for the army which could not use chakra. A lord's army or a samurai.

''We don't have long. You'll be explained everything on the way, but your father commanded me to ensure your safe and _quick_ leave of the village, since the Daimyo Protection Squad fell apart.''

She frowned. She wasn't told anything of this, which was already enough to anger her. Then the usual assumptions and scenarios raced through her mind. _Is something happening? Does father want to get rid of me? Is the family in danger?_

Kazuno stood silent, staring blankly at the impressive armour on the 5 men, at their swords and horned helmets, which looked demonic, but impressive to someone who like Kazuno was used to the military presence.

''Your father decided that it's too dangerous for you to stay here. Your father decided to refuse to send anyone from the family for the conscription, which he fears would be considered fleeing from the battlefield ; as you know, for a landlord, it is punishable by death. It's merely for your protection. Once we believe everything settled down, you will be able to return.''

* * *

The horn and the trumpet sounded, and a handful of men on horses rode through the lands, in each village announcing that each family is to donate one male to sign up for the armed forces. If denied, the suitable punishment would be given on the spot, as well as the dead line for arriving at the sign-ups was one month – exactly the time needed to get from the village to the city, if one was to set off tomorrow at the latest.

Women cried, embracing their husbands and sons of age, children panicked in the fear of losing a loved one, some men were enthusiastic to go, but one thing amongst the crowd was common – everyone knew, without exceptions, that this was the first sign of the inescapable and upcoming war.

* * *

**Author's Note :** Haha! I finally uploaded the 5th chapter :D I wrote 3 different versions, with only this one satisfying me enough to post it.

I'm sorry if it's a bit boring and long. You can consider it a filler-chapter simply to explain the background of the OC and a few other things that could have sounded rather odd the last chapter... I'll edit it someday. I'm not quite happy with the 4th one, but I'm short on time especially now, when I've got a lot of school-related work to do.

Please bear with me. And once more - THANK YOU for reading :D Every 'view' and 'visitor' and 'favourite' and 'review' and everything else is really motivational for me. For a short moment I was thinking about abandoning the story, but I figured that I couldn't just leave it, now that I got as far as 5th Chapter, which is my life record x3 I tended to write simple short stories.

And of course the side notes - *_watch your tongue or have it cut from your head._ is a quote from ''Hail to the King'' by Avenged Sevenfold. Just to make it clear. I don't own it.

*''Fear, like cold mud numbed faces... '' is a Witcher quote, from the book Last Wish I believe, from Andrzej Sapkowski. That too I do not own. The original (polish) is ; ''Zgroza, jak zimne błoto oblepiła twarze, skrępowała członki, zatkała gardła.''

And of course the land of Dragons is England. The dragon is from the story of St George and the Dragon. I wanted it to sound suitable considering other countries are for example called simply Fire.

I'm sorry if I get anything wrong as to historical facts or mythology. I'm a newbie as to Japanese culture despite how much I love it, and I can't help but make mistakes T^T

And to end this ridiculously long Author's Note - THANK YOU once more for reading x3 And sorry for putting Chojuro out of his character (Can you believe Naruto ended? ;-; When the last movie comes out it'll be all over. Just when I had an idea as to what to do with the Mizukage in my story, Kishi makes her retire!). It's needed for the plot to go accordingly, and I hope to get Sasuke into the 6th Chapter :D


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